


The Laur Project

by Skquill



Category: Laur Project, Original Work
Genre: Multi, Original Character(s), Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 17:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16645001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skquill/pseuds/Skquill
Summary: Riding on the coat tails of recovery and trauma, Lawrence Cooper finds himself in a hazy of high school. This stagnant lifestyle gets altered one day by a discovery that not only effects Lawrence, but also the people he cares about.A family secret gets revealed. A mythology becomes reality.





	The Laur Project

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if I'm going to update this frequently due to being busy. But here it is. 
> 
> Here's the start of it at least.
> 
> -SKQuill

The town was small, one of those Drive-too-quick-and-miss-it towns. Granted, there wasn’t much to see, the surrounding area was woods, large forests that spanned hundreds of acres. The town mainly consisted of hunters, with the occasional lawyer. Piscataquis, Maine had that effect on people--Being the state that is known for its forests, and overpopulation of deer.

Everyone drove a pickup truck, and in the back there was always tanks of gas or animal traps that rattled under a tarp.

The nearest city was an hour or more away. Houses were separated by seas of trees and the school looked more like a prison then a place of learning.

 

Fall was approaching, the leaves were turning that yellow-orange color; almost look like they were burning. Lawrence was smoking, watching the leaves move in the wind from the open stairwell at the back of the school. He took another inhale of the joint and felt his heart rate steady as he exhaled.

He hated fall. He hated the leaves that looked like fire. The thought of getting swallowed up in the choking black smoke made his stomach churn.

“ _Fuck…_ ” Lawrence coughed and dropped the joint, stomping it out. “I thought you said that this was strong, Gar.” He said to the guy next him, he was watching compilations of Vines on his phone. A joint in his free hand. They were both leaning against the railing of the stairs.

Garrett was laughing at one of the six-second videos. “You’re too strung up dude,” his friend said, taking a drag of his own joint. “Stop… Stop thinking about how fucked up you are. You’ll just get more paranoid--and I’m just trying to… live my best life...” As Garrett rambled on about his so-called ‘best life’, Lawrence gathered his stuff, putting his backpack over his shoulder and rubbed his eyes.

The pot made him sleepy, but it only seemed to up his paranoia.

“You leaving?” Garrett asked as Lawrence opened the door to the empty hallways of the school.

“I got a test on monday, I wanna study.” Lawrence said, it was partially a lie. He just wanted to get away from the burning trees.

Garrett threw a hand up as if to say goodbye. Lawrence didn’t respond and just left him in the stairwell with his weak joint and videos.

The teenager walked home after making a stop at his locker. He did have a test, but it wasn’t till Thursday. He yawned and rubbed his eyes again, blasting music into his ears so no one would talk to him. He walked quickly, keeping his eyes on the sidewalk.

Lawrence spent the majority of his walk home in a daze, the only company he saw was the shoes of people he would walk by. He lifted his head quickly and looked at the group in front of him. They all had the same destination in mind, the town was getting closer and closer with each step. But the group, made up of other students, all seemed disconnected with each other. LIke him, they all had earbuds or headphones in. Nudging each other to tell a joke, or to walk across the stree--  
_Walk across the street!!_

Lawrence was still tired from the pot and moved his body too late. The people in front of him, girls from another school were a few feet away from him, and the timer on the cross walk was ticking down. He strode to catch up with them, not caring how inconspicuous he looked. A car was coming to a halt as the group and him safely crossed.

He rubbed his eyes and waited for his anxiety to decrease. He took a few deep breaths and looked up at the buildings. Another block and he’d be in the small town.

As he continued, the familiar constant sound of cars leaving or entering the woods where he walked out of increased. The streets rumbled each time a car drove passed. The cars were all pickup trucks.

The closer he came into the town, the more cars passed him. Gravel crunching under their wheels as they drove passed, exhaust visible and it was if the car was coughing up tar. Lawrence found his eyes following the black plume, turning his head as the car went on--to the point where he was walking backwards just to watch it drive over the small hill before disappearing over the horizon. He kept his eyes on the ground, never looking at the orange stained sky. Before he turned around, a blue and yellow truck drove toward his direction going into town. Across the side of the pick up truck In yellow letters was **Sheriff**.

For a split moment, Lawrence met the cold eyes of the driver. Her hair was up in a tight bun, and aviator shades were hiding the glare she had. He gave her a crooked smile, lifting his hands and giving her a wave with one, and gently tucked his hair behind his ear with the other.

 _I’m toasted and have no pot. She won’t stop and question me._ Lawrence kept his eyes on the vehicle. The Sheriff scared him, she scared every high school student. Anyone with shades and no smile scared Lawrence. He could never read them that way.

Plus, the teenager was probably on her list of people to look out for. His trips to the back of the school for a bit of quiet and a blunt, was something he kept secret. But Garret doesn’t shut up and he’s let it slip a ton of times.  
She probably heard through the grapevine.

The car slowed to a stop. In front of the cross walk that Lawrence was about to walk over. Instead he stood there for a moment in a daze, without realizing it till the horn was blasting.

“Sorry!” He said, giving another wave and rubbing his dry eyes. He felt obligated to at least keep his hands out of his pockets when in the presence of the cop.

 _Anything for her to_ not _suspect anything. All I have is my lighter on me._

But Lawrence almost stopped his quick stride across. His eyes, blurry from his rubbing landed on the person in the passenger seat. She had her hands on her head, covering her ears.

Her hair was black and shoulder length. She was wearing a plaid button up shirt that was too big on her. She looked around Lawrence’s age.

The Sheriff turned to her and muttered something. Probably an apology.

Lawrence saw that the girl had a hospital band around her wrist. The kind that won’t break, even if you bite or tug at it.

He didn’t look back at the truck once he got to the other side. He kept his head down, and his music high, till he got home. Cutting through his front lawn he saw that his mother's suv was parked, it’s trunk open with groceries.

 

He opened the front door with his elbow, his hands full of the remaining bags.

“I’m home!” He announced. “And I got stuff from the market.” He kicked the door closed, and started toward the kitchen.

The place he called home was small, a simple two story with baby blue paint covering the exterior and sunshine yellow covering the interior. The house had a front porch, and if it weren’t for the bags of food in his arms, Lawrence would have taken his shoes off before coming in. His mother had a thing with mud.

As the teen walked passed the den on his left, he noticed that his father wasn’t there. That’s usually where he’d be. Either reading a book or newspaper. A bookcase full of professional, almost scholarly novels sat to the side. There used to be a tv, but with the change of technology the family sold it. Lawrence then proceeded to get his own small screen television for his room, just to play videogames. Though that was a rarity the older he got.

His mother was in the kitchen, doing too many things at once.

Her hands were wet from doing the dishes and the grocery bags were laid out on the counter.

“I brought the rest of the stuff in.” Lawrence said, watching his mother jump at his voice.

As she turned around, he face lit up. “Hi sweetie!” She turned the water off and dried her hands. “How was school?”

“Good.” He answered quickly, as he bent down so she could give him a kiss. “Happy Friday!”

His mother was affectionate. She had brown eyes and hair. Lawrence placed the bags on the counter and started to unload them.

“Thank you, Lawrence.” His mother spoke.

“Did Dad forget to do the dishes this morning?” The boy asked as he heard the water come back on and his mother started humming a random tune.

“Seems like it.” She answered.

“And you forgot to bring in the rest of the groceries?” Lawrence laughed as he put away the perishables in the cabinet near the fridge.

“Seems like it.” His mother repeated, chuckling a bit.

_I could have done the dishes._

Lawrence blinked at the thought, he felt a moment of deja vu come onto him then disappear. He was coming down.

“Me and your father have a town meeting to go to tonight, Lawrence. Will you be okay on your own?” His mother spoke up, turning off the water and dragging her son out of his daze.

“Mom, I’m 17 I can handle one night.” He answered and straightened up. His mother smiled, and helped with the bags. “What’s the meeting about anyway?” He asked as he took off his shoes, carrying them to the foyer and placing them on the mat.

“Well, I don’t know if you heard but a girl was found recently, in a run down house… the father, or--” His mother chose her words carefully, Lawrence could tell that it was a hard subject already. “He killed himself, and the town just wants to discuss what--well what to do with the girl.”

“You make it sound like she’s an animal.” Lawrence furrowed his brow.

“The events that lead up to it are dark, honey.” His mother said.

And then the conversation was over.

Lawrence gathered his backpack again and started to head up to his room. “I’m gonna study… Hope the meeting goes well.” He said as he walked up the stairs.

“If it does, maybe you’ll get a new student at school.” His mother smiled slightly, as if she still couldn’t face the so called ‘dark events that lead up to the girl getting discovered.’

“Maybe..” Lawrence shrugged at her smile, getting another pang of an oncoming headache. There was a window at the top of the staircase, he didn’t look through it as he got to the second floor. The orange glow of the setting sun made the framed photos that hung on the wall sparkle. The one that always seemed so get hit by the sunset was an antique photo. Nicely framed in the center; of Lawrence and his grandparents.

It’s been over a decade and he still couldn’t look at it.

 

Lawrence fell on his bed, letting out a small groan as the after effects took over. The small moment of peace was finally up and he was back to his regular, paranoid self. Taking out his lighter he sat up once more and walked over to his desk, dragging his bag with him. Taking out his textbook and biology homework as he sat down.

Before getting to work, he flicked the custom made lighter on. The nozzle was longer than regular lighters. The base was a blue color. He ran his left fingertips through the flame and felt nothing. A numbness that never went away.

This was the only flame he could handle, it’s small size was easy to control. Unlike the autumn trees or sunset, it didn’t consume his surroundings in orange, red and blue light. It was just a small flicker.

It couldn’t start the blaze that left him alone and unable to feel anything in his left hand. He flicked the lighter off, and stuffed it back into his pocket.

Opening his notebook and sketching out a punnett square.


End file.
